IEP Proposal - The Google Earth Challenge

For my next task, I will attempt to pull a rabbit out of a hat...or find some way to advance myself technically and incorporate this knowledge into a series of lesson plans. Thus I propose the

GOOGLE EARTH CHALLENGE!!

Until today I had never actually played with Google Earth - only viewed while others played. After a brief Internet investigation, I have found all sorts of SWEET stuff this program can do, including economic, demographic, transportation, and historic overlays on a topo map of the earth.

Apparently, if you have the latest and greatest version you can even view the night sky above your place of residence (or over the Sydney Opera house for that matter). You can "fly" a driving route between two cities or plot mountain adventures while measuring miles and elevation change. And this is what I know from the first hour!

This program appears to have a million and one applications in social studies curricula, and I aim to find the most spectacular ones. The other good news: this program is free to the general public, so I won't need any special funding to actually translate said lesson plans into my classroom.

Because at this point I have spent less than an hour playing with Google Earth, I am not sure what direction my lesson plans will take. I do know I have been very impressed in this brief amount of time, and am very excited to explore further. Check back for future updates on the Google Earth Challenge.